Containers of various shapes, sizes and configurations have been employed to accommodate all manner of storage and transportation needs. Typically, in the case of containers primarily utilized to transport items, it is often necessary to protect these items from impact and/or environmental damage, as well as to make the container suitable for stacking and storage during transportation.
Towards this end, it has been known to define structural profiles on the surfaces of containers, in order to provide a pattern, or matrix, by which other like containers may be stacked with one another during transportation.
Moreover, the stacking patterns of known transportation containers typically utilize similar patterns on opposing sides of the container, oftentimes being mirror images of each other. In addition, known containers also typically employ patterns which are limited to being uni-directional in their stacking ability and frequently employ patterns that contain ‘hard’, or sharp edges.
With the forgoing problems and concerns in mind, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a container assembly with a novel stacking profile defined on opposing sides of the container. In one preferred embodiment, the profile formed on one side of the container is not the same as the inter-connecting profile defined on the opposing side of the container. Moreover, the defined profiles of the present invention enable a bi-directional stacking capability, as well as having edges of the defined profiles that are more resistant to wear and damage. A novel latch mechanism for the container assembly of the present invention is also proposed.